


A Story Worth Telling

by imtheonlybeefcow



Category: Journey (Video Game 2012)
Genre: Gen, If you havent played the game, Major spoilers for the game, how do you tag something like this, my journey, oh yeah, without giving spoilers, you might be confused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-08-09 09:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7796986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imtheonlybeefcow/pseuds/imtheonlybeefcow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is not so much as a story about my journey, but about those who I shared this wonderful experience with. Those who helped me. Those who were patient with me. Those who cared. I thank all who were there with me for this unforgettable journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I don't expect this to get much attention, but whatever. I told my friend this story and she suggested I write it down. So I made a fanfic about it! Please enjoy the story of my second time playing Journey.

I found myself in a vast desert. The sand, glistening gold in the sun's warm ray, was a blanket covering the sleeping earth beneath my feet. A gentle breeze whispered in my ear. It called to the sand and some would follow. Traveling but a few feet until it rested again. My blood red cloak wished to follow the winds call, but it could not. I would not allow it. A golden pattern decorated the base of my cloak. The intricate design, trapped between two solid lines, glowed in much the same way as the sand.

I stood up and looked around. It was far from flat. Hills of the golden sand scattered the area. All varying in sizes. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something other than sand. I saw a mountain. Or what I can only assume was a mountain, for its sides were jagged and slopped at a much greater incline than any of the hills that surround me. Atop that mountain was a glowing beacon of light. It shot straight up into the sky. I knew at this moment, that that is where I must go.

Before this realization, I had no earthly clue what my purpose was here. I had just woken up in this desert with no memories of my previous life. But this mountain. This beacon of light. Just like the wind urging the sand to follow, this mountain was calling to me. This mountain was the wind, and I am the sand. But I did not have the gentle push that the wind gave the sand, I must do this myself. This caused me to realize...

**I was alone.**

There was no signs of life anywhere around me. All I could do is walk. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so I began to walk directly towards the mountain. As it turned out, I was on a rather large hill to start with, for I came up to a large drop in incline. I gracefully slid down the hill with ease and a new sight showed itself before my eyes.

I soon learned that this new task of mine would be harder than once expected. In front of me stood a collection of ruins. Some were buried in the sand and only a small part was visible. Others were toppled over and broken. Some looked like pillars that once stood tall. Others looked like buildings and houses that once belonged to someone.

For the first time since my arrival, I saw movement. To my right, I saw something that looked like a small cage. Inside of it, I saw what looked like small red pieces of cloth. They shared their appearance with the cloak I was wearing. They seemed to be flying around in there. Some looked frantic and possibly scared. As soon as I stepped near them, they began to glow. I noticed a similar glow come from around me. The golden pattern on my cloak was glowing as well as around my neck. The bars of the cage started to move and disappear. The small pieces of cloth burst out of the cage and began to circle me.

Their glowing had gotten much brighter and mine did too. The circle they created was slowly getting smaller. Then They stopped. They all flew up in the air and slowly floated back down. They went towards the back of my neck and one by one they disappeared. I noticed the addition to the area around my neck. A short scarf had appeared. It has the same pattern as my cloak but instead of just lining the base, the pattern ran the length of the scarf.

Not only did I get a scarf, I felt like something within me had changed, or rather, added. As I crouched down, as if about to jump, the gold on my scarf began to glow. Like it wanted me to jump. I tried it. With one big leap, I jumped straight up. Only, I went much higher than I should have been able to go. I believed that i would just fall back to the ground, but that was not the case. I gently floated safely to the sand. When I looked at my scarf, I noticed that half of the patter was gone. It was just that deep red.

I guessed that this new found power came with a time limit. Above the cage seemed to be a ribbon. It looked like the cloth pieces. But it was old and ripped up. I climbed on top of it and reached out to it. As I did, the base began to shine. So did I. Then, the shine crept up from the base to the top, As the glow passed, the ribbon was repaired. The color returned and the rips were gone. I looked at my scarf and noticed that the pattern had returned. This must be the was to restore my power.

I was pleased with myself for making such a discovery. I tried to voice my excitement, but words were not what came out of my mouth. The sound that I produce was more of a chirp noise. I dismissed this because I would have no need to talk if there was nobody to talk to. But the lack of life had made me somewhat upset. 

**I was alone.**

There was nothing I could do about this matter. I was getting distracted from my task. To get to the peak of that mountain. I continued to make my way across the desert, and if I came across a cage, I would release whatever was inside. I was usually granted with more power or a longer scarf. I kept at this until I came to my first obstacle. A broken bridge. I looked around and almost panicked. I was at a lost for what to do.

Until I met **them.**


	2. A Helping Hand

In the distance, I saw a figure. They were dressed in a red cloak just like mine. I chirped, trying to get their attention. The first few did not reach them. I got no response. I walked a little closer to them and chirped again. This time, they must have noticed, because they instantly turned around upon hearing my chirp. They ran over and began to chirp excitedly. They circled around me like the cloth pieces.

I noticed a few things about this new person. First, their cloak was different. Theirs had a few more rows of design. This must mean that they have been here in a previous life. Second, they were incredibly friendly. They chirped and chirped, often until I chirped back. Third, they seemed experienced. They seemed to know what they were doing. They kept looking at the same mountain that I was trying to get to. We share a common goal.

They began to walk away and noticed I was not following. They chirped as if to say follow me. And I did. They led me to the other side of the bridge. There, we found a cage containing the cloth pieces. We chirped to open the cage and set them free. There were more than usual in this particular cage. They flew to the large gap in the bridge. We ran over to the base of the bridge. It was then, we found our way up.

This ribbon glowed like the previous one I had found.Though, this was a much larger ribbon and it stretched all the way to the first piece of the bridge. When we stepped onto the ribbon, it glowed. We glowed and found we were able to walk right across. On the first piece, there was another ribbon. We walked right across it to the next platform. We continued this until we got to the end.

At the end, there was a pathway. The walls were covered with symbols and pictures. At the end of the pathway, there was a glowing piece of stone and in front, a ring of light. My friend walked towards the light and chirped for me to come along. We both sat down in the light and looked at the stone. Everything went white for a moment. Then a large white figure stood in front of us. It bent over to get a better look at us and then stepped back. Everything went white again and we saw a new scene. The symbols and pictures began to move. It was like they were telling us what was to come.

When we returned to the real world, the waterfall of sand parted revealing a new path. We stood up. My friend looked at me and chirped happily. I returned the happy chirp and we continued towards the mountain.

I felt different when I was with this person. I felt like they truly cared about me. When I would get lost, they would chirp until I found them again. If I got behind, they would wait. They led me in the right direction, much like a mentor. They made me feel safe. I didn't want to part ways with them. I finally had a companion. A partner. A friend.

**I was not alone.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had played this game once before. The first time, I didn't have anybody. But this time, I had them. Also, I am just posting chapters as I write them, so this will be finished in like a day or two... hopefully... (And I know the chapters are pretty short)


	3. Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long!! But heres to the few people who actually read it. I kept writing because of you guys.

We continued on with our journey towards that mountain. It did not seem like it was getting any closer. We were still a very long way away from our goal.

As we walked through the desert, we came upon a great hill. Going down. It was much like a slide. We glided across the golden sand as if it were ice. We would launch ourselves high in the air and preform little tricks. Then we would chirp as if to clap. We crisscrossed our way down this amusing slide, careful not to lose sight of one another.

After some time, we ended up at the base of the hill. It guided us to an entrance to a series of tunnels. The pillars lining the tunnels gave off the faintest blue glow. It caused it to look like an underwater scene.

We slowly walked into the quiet sleeping tunnel. Careful not to wake the slumbering beast, we worked our way through the pillars. As we were walking, we saw a much brighter glow. Like a search light. It was moving.

Then we saw the creature.

A Guardian. We had only ever heard legends of these creatures. They looked like enormous whales shattered into pieces and encased in stone. Though these were not Guardians of the good kind. These particular monsters were known for the destruction they caused.

If anything at all crossed their path, they would dive down and eliminate whatever was in their way. Their attach was impossible to avoid. They showed no mercy. But what exactly where they guarding? Nothing of importance seemed to be in these tunnels. Unless they were guarding the tunnels themselves. We decided it was best to stay as far away as possible.

The Guardians did not seem to search the outermost area of the tunnel. I took the right side and my partner took the left. We would hop between the pillars and stop to rest when the Guardian passed by us. We would occasionally chirp to make sure we were both safe.

We eventually saw that the path dipped down. We could not see the bottom, but we could see the glowing beacon of light. This must be what they are guarding.

My friend and I looked at each other agreeing to jump out and run to the dip in the path. The pillars ended early and the path got narrower. We would have to be quick so that we wouldn’t get spotted.

We chirped to three and jumped out. We began to sprint down the narrow tunnel. We were almost at the end when something let out the most piercing noise I have heard. A high pitched screech echoed in the tunnel. Then we saw the light. The white searchlight of the Guardian blinded both of us. We fell onto the soft sand. Unable to move.

Time froze.

My heart stopped for a split second before beginning to beat much too rapidly.  I turned around to face the creature. I saw out of the corner of my eye a red blur moving. My friend stood up and stepped between me and the Guardian.

It did not take me long to realize what was going on here. My friend chirped once. Only once. They did not move. They only chirped. Even though they spoke no words, I knew exactly what they said. And it was something that made my heart break when I heard it. One simple word. One simple action.

**Run.**


	4. Why?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why? Why did this happen to them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure these chapters are getting shorter. Sorry about that.

No.

I can’t run.

You can’t leave me.

No.

I could not even begin to comprehend the situation. It felt so fake, yet so real. Part of me was in denial, but the other part of me knew. I knew, but I did not want to believe. I did not want to believe that after this moment, my friend could be gone from my life. Taken right in front of me.

I could not make my legs move. I was frozen in fear. I stumbled backwards. My friend looked at me one last time. I fell back and began tumbling down a hill. Right before my vision darkened, I saw a blinding white light envelope my friend. Then the sound of a laser firing. That was the last memory I had of my friend. My body hit the side of a platform and that’s when my vision went black.

When I regained consciousness, I noticed I was still next to the edge of the platform. I did not realize how bad I was actually shaking. Or why, for my memories became a little foggy. I began to stand up. Then it hit me. The memories of what had just happened flowed into me. Tears streaming down my face that I could not control, I sprinted to the hill that I had been thrown down.

I began to walk up. Chirping. Hoping to get a response from my friend. But that response was never heard. I reached about halfway up the hill when I saw a piece of red cloth. I picked it up and noticed the end of it was singed like it had been burned.

This belonged to my friend.

 My knees buckled and I fell back down. Teardrops fell upon the burned cloth. The memories of my friend who had been stolen from me were returning more vividly. My friend who had done so much for me in the past, but I could do nothing for them. I felt like I failed them. The burnt scarf served as a grim reminder to me.

My friend was gone, and they will never return.

I didn’t know what to do in this moment. All I could do was stare at all that was left of my friend. The evidence that showed they were truly gone from this world. Evidence that the Guardians took their life away. Evidence being held by the hands that failed to protect their friend. The hands of the weak and inexperienced child.

I could not help but feel responsible for the death of my friend, for I was not able to do anything to help them when they needed it the most. This cost them their life. Their blood was on my hands because I was weak.

Why didn’t they run with me? We could have both gotten away. Why did they stay behind?

**Why?**


End file.
